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And of course, after a night where I have restless sleep because of dreams (more like nightmares) of my ex with her new b/f and of us breaking up on a loop, she texts me today for the first time in days. I haven't been having restless nights or dreams. Last night was first time since the first couple days after the break up. No idea really why. It's not surprising to me she chose today to text. Every time I have a dream like that, whoever I dream of contacts me soon after.

I'm not getting sucked back in (no chance of us being a couple again), but this is a very difficult situation with multiple layers. It's not just her dumping me for another guy or for past mistakes I made that she could no longer live with.

She's still very sick with cancer. It never went into total remission. She is very weak and the Canadian gov't stopped her treatments last May. The stress she's under has really affected her. The idea that death is close and inevitable can do a lot to someone's decision making. She is very depressed and has been for most of her life.

And this may not make sense to non-Christians, but I still care so deeply for her soul. While with me down here, she ended up getting baptized and started reading the Bible. Now that she's back home, there are no Christians anywhere around her for support. The church is far away and she doesn't drive and is too weak to take the bus that far. When we broke up, I cried more because I worried about her falling away than for my own feelings being hurt. I'm crying now thinking about it. She's been through so many terrible things in her life. I don't want her to end up in a place full of the people that hurt and tortured her for so many years. I reached out to her just now. Told her to get right with God if she feels her end is near. That I care for her as a fellow Christian and that I'd find a church closer to her. I told her to just think on it and get back to me.

That's why it's so hard for me to just say "f you" and move on like I want so badly to do.

I don't have any real advice but you should probably talk to your priest/pastor/whatever. I'm guessing they will best be able to help you come to terms with end of your relationship and your ex's health issues.

whey protein - It's just the brand you can find at Walmart (Body Fortress). I'm going with 2 scoops in water once a day.
soluble fiber - 2 tsp in the protein drink
Centrum men's multivitamin - 1 a day
Omega 3-6-9 oils - 2 a day

I was reading up on whey benefits and saw a lot about it helping weight loss and muscle retention during weight loss. Thought I'd give it a try. I won't allow the shakes to put me over my calorie goal. I'm hoping its claims that it, and fiber, will help curb my appetite a bit.

Not pushing that particular book, although he does have a very simplified "beginner's program" which is pretty simple to do in your house with not much special equipment (although if you have a pull up/dip stand you'll come out ahead). Weights are great, but you don't actually need them to get in shape. Plenty of body weight exercise sites out there. And hey, if you have weights, that's great as well. Many paths to the top of the mountain, or something like that.

I can't offer anything on than sympathy on the rest your situation, as I don't believe in what you believe in. However, it all sounds very sad and trying, and hope you pull through.

Actually starting the gym today after work with the little brother who's kind of a gym rat. I've lost around 40-50 pounds just not eating as much as I used to in about 1 year(went from 240 to about 185). I havent been under 200 pounds since probably sophomore year in hs. Just want to stay at this weight and lean out, I'm 5'10 so don't really want to drop too much more weight. Hopefully I can keep it up and make it a regular thing, at least 4 days a week.

@ 5'10 you could probably get to 175 just leaning out, of course depending on what muscle mass you have. I'm 6'0 and 170 right now, but I'm naturally lean/lanky, probably have 10 lbs maybe of fat I could still work off and no real muscle mass anywhere other than my thighs. 240 to 185 just by eating well is awesome man! my friend did something similar sr year in HS, cut out all liquid calories and had a salad for lunch at school. stuck to it and the old pictures of him look like a different person.

I had a Mexican friend in the mid-seventies that said "you are what you are". He was way over weight, and that was his was response to my suggestion that he might to drop a few pounds. After years of weight lifting, water skiing, surfing, etc., I finally gave up and took his advice. Now I'm happy!

I had a Mexican friend in the mid-seventies that said "you are what you are". He was way over weight, and that was his was response to my suggestion that he might to drop a few pounds. After years of weight lifting, water skiing, surfing, etc., I finally gave up and took his advice. Now I'm happy!

By the same token, a man can have some decency and shed some freaking pounds.

When it started hurting my gut to reach down and tie my shoes, I decided that wasn't who I was going to be. $#@! that.

So I'm diving into this thread and healthier living. I wont say how much I weigh but it's way too damn much.

Here's my problem. I largely work from home so I kept basically whatever hours I wanted. Some nights/days I would go to be at 10am and other 10pm. Some nights I would sleep 6 hours and some 10. It was ridiculous and I could feel it effecting me. Step 1, I'm sleeping better. Usually in bed by midnight (up late tonight but will hit the bed shortly). Getting a pretty consistent 8 hours now and already feel a difference. I have more energy.

Food is my second problem. I'm not a huge eater, I just tend to eat all at once. I'm NEVER hungry when I wake up. In fact, if I wake up at 9am, I may not actually get hungry until 6pm. But when that hunger hits, it hits hard and many a night I have gone to a buffet or just eaten a crazy amount of food. I'm forcing myself to eat more, but less. I'm getting three meals a day now and can already tell a difference. The strange thing is that I get more hungry now. If I ate breakfast, I'm hungry again a couple hours later. And since I'm not eating bad food (as much), I'm having trouble finding food that really fills me up. I checked out all the diets (paleo, South Beach, Mediterranean, etc.) and I'm not following any one diet, but I have decided on eating leaner meat, more fruits and veggies and better grains. I love salads and have been eating a bunch, but they don't feel me up. I don't eat a lot of bread but have switched to whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, etc. I just need to find meals and snacks that are good for me, but stick to my ribs.

I'm kind of baby stepping my way into this. Been hitting the treadmill for an hour or so. Made the switch to better breads, pastas and rice as I said above. When I eat out, I've taken to Subway. It's not the greatest, but my favorite stuff there happens to be healthy and I keep track via their nutritional info. It sounds cheesy but I can see how that Jerrod guy lost all that weight (I just wouldn't want to make Subway the base of my entire diet). Eliminating sodas will be my biggest hurdle. In the meantime, if anybody has any stick to your rib meal/snack ideas, I would love to hear them.

Like I said earlier, I am doing a 21 day "challenge" through Mel's Meals. I stopped drinking after the MNC game and tracked calories, started letting Mel prepare everything I shove into my gob 11 days ago and am down 15 pounds.

If you want a good baseline for your calories needed each day, go to the Daily Plate which is now part of Livestrong. You can enter your age, height, weight and even tell it how much you want to lose and it will give you a calorie per day goal that you can aim for. Mel has me at around 1700-1800 per day which is a little aggressive but I am actually doing fine on it. Eating 3 meals a day and 2 snacks is quite a difference and it is funny but like said above, the more often you eat, the more often you get hungry.

It is amazing to see my 500-600 calorie dinners that taste good and don't leave me starving. It would maybe fill up the salad plates we use at the house if I spread it out. When I think about how much extra I would pack in on that 12" dinner plate, with sometimes seconds, plus all the booze, I am kinda surprised that I don't need a scooter. If I can stick with this, and at this point it doesn't seem too hard to do, I am going to kick myself that I didn't do it 10 years ago.

I've mentioned that I am using My Plate on Livestrong. I track everything I eat, as well as exercise I do each day. It's a great tool. It puts me around 1600-1700 cals a day to lose 4 lbs a week. When exercise is added to that, I've rarely hit the goal. Always well under it.

I'm down 18 lbs since the 2nd. I took photos of myself around the 3rd day of the diet. I want to take photos after every 25 lbs lost. Hopefully that's coming up soon.

I didn't eat those things every day or every week, but even once a month would be ridiculous. That Sonic meal is less than 700 calories short of 1 pound of fat.

BTW, why the hell is Sonic so much worse for you than Whataburger, yet WB is infinitely better tasting? Sonic fail. I'm glad I only ate there once every 4 or 5 months.

Now my lunches consist of one of those bagged salads from HEB plus cucumbers, sometimes carrots, and light dressing. As well as a 300 calorie turkey or chicken sandwich.

It's not that big a surprise people can lose weight just by not eating out. Sickening what restaurants/fast food do to their product.

I did this the other day. +rep to whoever mentioned the Lose It! site and app. I put the app on my phone and have been using the hell out of it. If you're a calorie counter, I can't imagine an easier way to do it. I just ate a Healthy Choice TV dinner, used the barcode scanner feature in the app and added to my daily intake in less than 5 seconds. Crazy easy.

But as Al said, I've also been using it to look at how bad my old eating was. It's unreal. Regularly getting 1500-2000+ calories per eat out/drive-thru meal. Frankly, the shock value of just seeing many of those numbers has been enough to keep me away from any drive-thrus.

i've been eating at maudies at least once a week because they are one of the few places nearby that serves a decent salad. i get the maida w/ chicken fajita meat, no cheese or tortilla strips and simply squeeze a couple of lime wedges over it.

Those of you focused on weight loss, I strongly suggest Jamie's talk at TED... there are various messages he's delivering here about changing how we eat, obesity, etc. Just good information to reinforce why it is so important to make permanent lifestyle changes... yes, his message has to do with children and food but this needs to hit home for everyone who is obese.

to gain weight while still eating healthy, you really have to eat until you can't anymore. My room mate is 6'4 and was hovering around 195 and when he was working out 5 times a week, he had to eat at least 4k calories a day to break even and maybe gain a slight bit. He has a naturally fast metabolism, but it still shows that eating a little bit more just won't do it. He was never ever hungry but just stuck to eating more, and he got up to almost 220 over the semester.

Also, once you gain what you want, you can't just revert to your old eating habits and workout routine, the gains will go away without being used. My buddy is already down to 210 again because he can't work out as much due to a new job.

edit: more specifically to the question Raider asked, I would say take a meal idea from this thread, add some carbs to it and protein and good fats, and eat six of those meals a day vs three for dieting.

I haven't lost any weight the last few days. I've stopped around 17 lbs.

I haven't walked since Monday. I've been barely able to walk at work with a sore toe on the left foot. It's almost back to normal, and I'll be able to walk again. I really need to look for better shoes...again. I did go bowling for about an hour on Tuesday. It wasn't as hard on my foot and I still got a little exercise in. Better than sitting on the couch for that hour.

I'm also going to cut out that whey protein shake in the morning for a few days. Ever since I started using it, my weight loss has stopped. Going to stop and see if it's the culprit.

any of you (weight) losers doing this Febriety thing? No (binge) drinking for the entire month of February. a bunch of my friends are doing it. the plan is to find weekend activities that don't involve alcohol for the year's shortest month. I'm considering it. I'm sure it would save me a few lbs, a ton of money, and wouldn't be too bad for my liver/kidneys either. The only problem is that I like to drink and weekend activities that don't involve alcohol would surely be more fun if they did involve alcohol.

al - you're going to plateau occasionally. it's just part of weight loss. that's one of the reasons i'd suggest weighing yourself every other week or so and judge your success by how you feel and how your clothes fit.

i don't know enough about food/diet chemistry to be an authority, but i definitely raised an eyebrow when you said you were taking whey protein shakes. in my experience, that's something guys like raider take to add good weight, not something people take to lose. personally, i drink one protein shake a day, either as a meal replacement for breakfast or a late morning snack. i use syntha-6 over muscle-milk because it has less fat (and i'm pretty sure less calories, but it's been a while since i checked). handful of strawberries/raspberries, 2 small scoops and water.

I agree on losing the protein shake. The exercise you are getting is great for your legs, but its not so stressful that you need to supplement protein in your diet to have enough to properly repair the muscles. A regular calorie reduced diet should still have plenty of protein to get the job done. Any protein you intake that doesn't get used get transformed to fat, so no need to try and have extra. your muscles should do just fine without the shake.

I'd like to get opinions on low-fat vs. low-sugar. Thirty years ago, when people wanted to lose weight, they were advised to cut out "starchy" foods like bread, potatoes, and pasta. This morphed into the "eat a low-fat diet" where it was recommended that you get less than 30% of your calories from fat. Of course, people ate more starches and sugars, and there are a lot of low-fat snacks out there with a ton of refined sugar in them. Now everybody is fat. The "eat a low fat" thing seems to have quietly faded away, and I'm starting to think it was really bad advice all along. I'm starting to believe the "avoid starches and sugars", especially at night, and eat all the fat you want as long as it is "good" fat, side of the story. One book advises that you get 70% of your calories from fat. What says Shag?

Fats include nuts, seeds, fish oils, flaxseed, some veggies, etc. I agree 100% with what you're saying. Carbs/starch turns to sugar. We are bombarded with sugar and carbs every day in almost everything we eat. It is a factor in the obesity and diabetes epidemic.

sugar is a major culprit. its a short burst of energy and any that isn't immediately burned off its very easily transformed into fat.

fats are fine, especially good fats. excess amounts of butter and lard and such isn't good, but oils used in cooking are nothing to shy away from and fats occurring naturally in foods are good. the body needs enough fat to function properly.

carbs/starch just have to be monitored as far as intake. because they have such a high density calorie wise, its extremely easy to intake more than you use. a carb heavy meal that "fills you up" can easily be 1200 calories in what seems like a reasonable lunch. Even more so if there is any type of creamy sauce or oil.

there is no secret, just balance and portion. sugars are a little evil, but only because of how prevalent they are in so many foods and how accustomed we are to consuming to much sugar. (it even hides in places you wouldn't think, there is 4g in a McDonald's dollar menu item bun)

damn, hate to hear that. i remember your original weight loss thread and all the progress you made (at least i think that was you).

i, myself, have recently put the 25-30 pounds i lost in the first half of last year back on and am starting the process of taking them off again. i lost them pretty easily, cut out bad foods (most of the time, still let myself have mexican food every firday night), cokes (i actually prefer tea now), alcohol (for the most part) and exercised 3-4 times a week (nothing major, 30-45 minutes on the treadmill, certainly wasn't killing myself at the gym or anything). the lbs came off easily and i felt better than i had in a long time health wise. since i've put the weight back on, i have actually felt myself getting fatter and it disgusts me. hoping to drop the 25-30lbs in the same manner and the same time frame (around 4 months) that i did at this time last year.

best of luck to both of us!

down exactly 9 lbs. in january. have worked out some, but not a lot (honestly it had been so long since i had worked out that i was sore as a $#@! for 2-3 days after every time i worked out). have eaten a $#@! ton better than i was from september-december, but i could still be doing a lot better. goals are to eat even better (need to cut out more sugars), excersise more (shouldn't be as sore after finishing as i was in january) drink no cokes/alcohol and lose another 9 lbs. this month.

Down 13 since Christmas. I've been walking to Subway at lunch (10 mins each way) 2-3 times per week and getting their $5 meal deal of the day. Better than driving 10 mins to Chuy's or something.....cheaper too

Down another 2 pounds to 238 since my last weigh in two weeks ago. I've found a pretty good balance that isn't too hard to maintain exercise wise. I drank quite a bit in the last week, which is why i'm sure I didn't lose as much as I should have.